Cooling towers



J. H. DALTRY COOLING TOWERS Feb. 21, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 4, 1965 Feb. 21', 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 4, 1965 mmim Feb. 21, 1967 DALTRY 3,305,006

COOLING TOWERS Filed March 4, 1965 a Sheets-Sheet s 25 I FIGA United States Patent l 3,305,006 COOLING TOWERS John Harold Daltry, Rugby, England, assignor to The English Electric Company Limited, London, England, a British company Filed Mar. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 437,049

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 11, 1964,

10,241/ 64 2 Claims. (Cl. 165124) This invention relates to cooling towers. According to the invention a cooling tower includes a plurality of heat exchanger elements for cooling water by indirect heat exchange with air flowing through the.

elements, and the heat exchanger elements are inclined at an angle to the horizontal.

One cooling tower in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of part of a steam turbine plant including a water cooling installation;

FIG. 2 is a simplified vertical section of a forceddraught cooling tower which forms part of the water cooling installation, taken on the line IIII of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a simplified horizontal section of part of the cooling tower, taken on the line,IIIIII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a detail of part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a section on the line VV of FIG. 3 showing another detail to a larger scale than FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 1, a steam turbine 34 exhausts into a direct-contact steam condenser 35. A pipe 36 leads from the base of the condenser 35 to a pump 37. A pipe leads from the pump outlet to a T-junction, from which a pipe 38 leads in one direction to provide feed water for a boiler (not shown) associated with the steam turbine. In the other direction a pipe 41 leads from the T-junction to a warm water main 22. A number of heatexchanger elements 15, which are shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1 and are arranged in the forced-draught cooling tower as shown in FIGS. 2-5, are connected to the warm water main 22 by water inlet pipes 20. Water outlet pipes 21 from the heat-exchanger elements 15 are connected to a cold water main 23 which leads to the condenser 35, into which the cold water from pipe 23 is sprayed through jet orifices 42.

The water inlet pipes 20 and outlet pipes 21 are connected to waterboxes 19 at the base of the heat-exchanger elements 15, the waterboxes being internally divided into two halves by a wall 43. A number of water tubes 16 lead from the inlet half of the waterbox 19 to a return waterbox 18 at the top of the heat-exchanger element. A similar number of water tubes 16 lead from the return water-box 18 to the outlet half of the waterbox 19. A plurality of cooling fins 17 are attached to the pipes 16.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 to 5, the cooling tower comprises an open-sided building having two end walls 11 and a flat roof 12 supported by the end walls, in which there are a number of circular vents surmounted by venturi-shape fairings 13, each housing a fan 14. The vents are arranged in two parallel lines (which are viewed endon in FIG. 2), but it will be clear that, for example, a single line of vents is possible. Each fan 14 is driven by an electric motor 14A through a gearbox 14B. In the building 10 are mounted two lines of heat-exchanger elements 15, one line of heat-exchanger elements being associated with each line of vents. Adjacent heat-exchanger elements 15 in each line are arranged in Zig-zag fashion at about 60 to each other, as is best seen in FIG. 3, and at about 45 to the horizontal, as is best seen in FIG. 2.

The actual positions of warm water main 22, cold water main 23, water inlet pipes and water outlet pipes 21 in relation to the heat-exchanger elements 15 and waterboxes 19 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In addition a small-bore drain pipe 40 is connected from the lowest point of the inlet side of each waterbox 19 to the inlet main 22, and a small-bore drain pipe 40A is connected from the lowest point of the outlet side of the waterbox to the outlet main 23. r

- At the lower end of each waterbox 19 there is fitted an inclined steel foot 24 which is secured to concrete foundations 25 firmly fixed to the ground (FIGS. 3 and 4).

The tubes 16 of each heat-exchanger element 15 are supported by a framework 26, which for clarity is not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, but which is secured at its base to the waterbox 19 and to the inclined foot 24. Two parallel longitudinal beams 27 are arranged below the roof 12 and above the level of the heat-exchanger elements 15, and form part of the framework of the building 10. All the heat-exchanger elements 15 of one line are suspended from one beam 27, by means of linkages 28, and those of the other line from the other beam. One linkage 28 is shown in FIG. 5, in which a link 29 is pivoted to a bracket 30 secured to the beam 27 and to another bracket 31 secured to the upper part of the heat-exchanger element framework 26. The gap between the top of the elements 15 and the adjacent beam 27 is closed by a sheetmetal wall to prevent air ingress.

A horizontal division plate 32 is arranged above the pipes 22, 23 to join the lower inner edges of the cooling elements 15 (triangular sheet-metal bafiles may be used to prevent air flow between the waterboxes 19 of adjacent heat-exchanger elements and the plate 32), and a vertical longitudinal dividing wall 33 divides the space between the plate 32 and the roof 12, so that the fans 14 draw air upward through only those heat-exchangers 15 directly below them.

It will be understood that cooling towers having heatexchanger element inclined at an angle to the horizontal in accordance with the invention are not confined to the forced-draught type; for example, the heat-exchanger elements may be arranged in a single circle at the base of a circular cooling tower of the natural-draught type, having their lower ends on a circle of smaller radius than their upper ends. They may also be arranged in more than one bank, suitable baflles being provided to ensure that the air flow does not by-pass the heat-exchanger elements.

In another arrangement, where the cooling tower is of the forced-draught type, there may only be one line of fans 14 and one line of corresponding cooling elements 15, but in a preferred arrangement, as indicated above, there may be one line of fans, and two lines of elements 15 arranged as described above, each fan drawing air through two elements 15.

The angles of 60 and 45 at which the heat-exchanger elements, in the example described herein, are inclined to each other and to the horizontal, respectively, are only typical; any convenient angles may be chosen. The elements may-if desired be arranged in line with each other, i.e. each line of elements being in a single plane, rather than in Zig-zag fashion, but still inclined to the horizontal.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patents is:

1. A cooling tower comprising a fixed support structure mounted on the ground and having air inlet openings at the sides, a plurality of generally-rectangular tube-andfin coolers in said inlet openings wherein the tubes of each cooler terminate at their lower ends in a waterbox extending along the lowest end face of each cooler, a water inlet main and a water outlet main extending through said structure below said coolers, an inlet branch pipe and an outlet branch pipe connecting each said waterbox with said inlet and outlet main respectively, and means for drawing air inwardly through said air inlet openings and said coolers into said structure and thence out through the top of the structure, wherein the coolers are in lines inclined to the horizontal and lean outwardly relative to said structure, and wherein the adjacent coolers in each line are arranged according to a zig-zag formation, a plurality of inclined feet fixed with respect to the ground, each rigidly abutting the lower, that is to say the outer, end face of a corresponding said waterbox so as to locate and support the corresponding said cooler, each said branch pipe being connected to a point on the corresponding said Waterbox remote from said end face thereof, and a drain pipe, of substantially smaller diameter than said branch pipes, being connected between the outlet main and the end of each said waterbox immediately adjacent the correspond- 15 ing said foot.

2. A cooling tower according to claim 1, comprising a further drain pipe connected between the inlet main and the same end of each said waterbox.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,499,041 2/ 1950 Vergottis 165-82 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,172,065 10/ 1958 France. 1,249,717 11/1960 France.

739,153 9/ 1943 Germany.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

N. R. WILSON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A COOLING TOWER COMPRISING A FIXED SUPPORT STRUCTURE MOUNTED ON THE GROUND AND HAVING AIR INLET OPENINGS AT THE SIDES, A PLURALITY OF GENERALLY-RECTANGULAR TUBE-ANDFIN COOLERS IN SAID INLET OPENINGS WHEREIN THE TUBES OF EACH COOLER TERMINATE AT THEIR LOWER ENDS IN A WATERBOX EXTENDING ALONG THE LOWEST END FACE OF EACH COOLER, A WATER INLET MAIN AND A WATER OUTLET MAIN EXTENDING THROUGH SAID STRUCTURE BELOW SAID COOLERS, AN INLET BRANCH PIPE AND AN OUTLET BRANCH PIPE CONNECTING EACH SAID WATERBOX WITH SAID INLET AND OUTLET MAIN RESPECTIVELY, AND MEANS FOR DRAWING AIR INWARDLY THROUGH SAID AIR INLET OPENINGS AND SAID COOLERS INTO SAID STRUCTURE AND THENCE OUT THROUGH THE TOP OF THE STRUCTURE, WHEREIN THE COOLERS ARE IN LINES INCLINED TO THE HORIZONTAL AND LEAN OUTWARDLY RELATIVE TO SAID STRUCTURE, AND WHEREIN THE ADJACENT COOLERS IN EACH LINE ARE ARRANGED ACCORDING TO A ZIG-ZAG FORMATION, A PLURALITY OF INCLINED FEET FIXED WITH RESPECT TO THE GROUND, EACH RIGIDLY 